Essential Edits

With their personal home organization business, The Home Edit, product line, Netflix show, blog, books and huge social media presence (5 million Instagram followers), the two Nashville residents offer creative home organization hacks designed to make the process fun and functional. Their goal is to not only help clients achieve organized and beautiful spaces within their home, but also create functional areas that are easy for the entire family to maintain over time.

On their popular Netflix show, “Get Organized With The Home Edit,” Shearer, 38, and Teplin, 41, work with everyday families as well as a variety of celebrity clients, including Reese Witherspoon (who serves as the executive producer on their show), Eva Longoria, Dan Levy and Khloe Kardashian. The goal is to eliminate clutter and transform homes into structured and enjoyable living spaces. Their eye for detail, sense of humor and emphasis on design make their approach to decluttering a rewarding and fun experience.

In their show’s first episode, Shearer and Teplin visited Witherspoon’s Nashville home to organize her collection of red carpet gowns and film costumes from movies such as “Legally Blonde” and “Wild” to TV shows including “Big Little Lies” and “The Morning Show.” Rather than have her wardrobe packed away, Witherspoon wanted her memorabilia organized in such a way that it could be easily viewed and accessible.

Shearer and Teplin say restructuring a home goes beyond aesthetics. Several studies have shown that cluttered home spaces are more than just an eyesore, they also affect our health, causing feelings of stress and anxiety. 

The duo says the key to clearing clutter is starting small. Their four-step process is outlined on their blog, thehomeedit.com/blog, and in their books, “The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals” (2019) and “The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything” (2020). Both books offer insight into The Home Edit’s rainbow color-coordination skills and ability to maximize storage in even small spaces.

“Start with a bathroom or kitchen drawer and go through the process of taking out everything in the drawer, editing (getting rid of items you don’t want or need), categorizing (labeling), containing (to best utilize space) and then maintaining the order,” Teplin says. “Seeing the results of one small project can leave you feeling empowered and motivate you to take on other areas of your home.”

With the pandemic, Shearer and Teplin have seen a surge in business with people spending more times in their homes and requesting organizing services that reflect the changes in their lives. They also started offering virtual consults to clients who decided to tackle home organization projects they may have been putting off.

“We’ve helped a lot of clients create work-from-home spaces as well as home school areas, cooking spaces and areas to house home gyms,” Teplin says. “At a time when we can’t control what’s going on in the outside world, we can still create a sense of peace and purpose in our homes.”

For those new to home organizing, Shearer and Teplin walk readers through a 14-day mini-edit process on their blog. The tutorial breaks down how to organize popular areas of the home including under-the-sink spaces, pantries, closets, the refrigerator and more. 

Although the organizing duo have their own line of products sold on their website and at The Container Store, Shearer recommends going through the edit process before purchasing items such as storage bins.

“You need to be mindful of exactly what you’ll be keeping and storing, which isn’t possible until you’ve gone through the editing process,” Shearer says. “You’ll also need to take measurements to ensure any bins or baskets that you purchase will fit into your designated spaces.”

Shearer and Teplin launched The Home Edit in 2015, shortly after both had relocated to Nashville from California with their families. They met by chance through a mutual friend who thought they would have a lot in common since both were thinking of starting an organizing business. 

The two hit it off right away and found their skills complemented each other. Shearer had previously worked in the fashion industry and brought an aesthetic view to the business, while Teplin had owned a smaller home organizing business. Several hours after meeting, they decided to become business partners, decided on a company name and logo and registered their LLC.

Launching in Nashville, the duo grew their business through their Instagram account @thehomeedit that showcases meticulous closets, perfect pantries and pristine office areas. They also began offering in-home organization services in Nashville, and now have organizers in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Calif., the San Francisco Bay Area, South Florida and the Washington DC Metro area.

“Expanding our service business to South Florida has always been a dream of ours,” says Teplin. “We love the community and how welcoming and supportive they’ve been since our October 2020 launch,” she adds. “Cece Etsubneh and Ashley Brown are the two amazing organizers leading our South Florida Home Edit team.”

Home Edit organizers put a big emphasis on working with customers to meet their goals, whether that means creating a functional workspace in lieu of office space or turning an unused garage into a home gym. 

Shearer and Teplin fully understand the organizational challenges of busy families.

As moms who each have two children, they know what it’s like to organize toys, games and a seemingly endless stream of schoolwork, art and other projects.

“My general rule of thumb is I keep anything that’s personalized (handprints, portraits, etc.) and anything I like and think I’ll want to have in the future,” Shearer says. “I select a sentimental storage box for each child and add a label designating which box belongs to which child.”

Teplin recommends going through the boxes at the end of each school year and to take photos or create a book using a company like Chatbooks or Shutterfly, if you have more items than space.

“There’s no reason to keep 500 rainbow pictures,” Teplin says. “If I’m unsure, I’ll often ask myself, ‘Will my kids still want to have this piece of artwork or school project when they’re grown up?’”

Shearer and Teplin also believe in making children a part of the organizing process. 

“By using different colored storage bins and large floor baskets, it’s possible to make organizing almost like a game for children,” Shearer says. “They learn to visually recognize where things go.”

Having a designated playtime floor basket where kids can place their toys when they’re done playing with them also makes cleanup easier, since kids can take the basket and return items to where they belong.

The two say one of the biggest challenges they face in their business is managing expectations and working with a client to create a unique system that will work for them.

“Sometimes a client will show us an example of a gorgeous space they saw in a magazine, but their actual living area isn’t as large,” Shearer says. “We’re not contractors, so often the decision will come down to keeping and storing items the client doesn’t want to edit or creating an airy vibe.”

In a 2019 interview with Elle Decor, Shearer and Teplin say one of the biggest mistakes people make is to purge and organize their home at the same time.

“Free up space and remove clutter prior to organizing,” Shearer told Elle Decor. “And never attempt to do an entire room at once, start with a drawer or small space and finish that before moving on to the next space.”

As the two look forward to the rest of 2021, they hope to expand their business to additional cities and continue to build their brand through business partnerships. 

“We have several phrases that we use such as ‘Low -Bar Lifestyle’ and ‘surviving not thriving’ that are also imprinted on some of our shirts and other merchandise (for sale on their website),” Shearer says. “They both describe the process of creating systems that simplify your life, but that also set the bar low enough that you can accomplish all kinds of small victories.”